President Eighmy launches Presidential Initiative on Research Excellence

(Aug. 3, 2018) -- UTSA President Taylor Eighmy today announced a new initiative to catapult UTSA as San Antonio’s world-class public research university. The Presidential Initiative on Research Excellence will increase national and international recognition of UTSA as an institution of research excellence and help it earn status as a research intensive university, as identified by the National Research University Fund (NRUF) and Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.

“As many of you have heard me say, the city of Boston has eight universities that hold an R1 Carnegie Classification signifying they engage in the highest levels of research activity,” said Eighmy in an email sent today to UTSA faculty and staff. “San Antonio needs a Carnegie R1 institution, and we would like for UTSA to be its first.”

UTSA is positioned to gain access to the NRUF, monies designated by the Texas State Legislature to help the state’s universities achieve prominence on the national stage. The designation comes with about $8 million annually in state dollars that will help UTSA attract leading scholars to the university and ensure they have the support they need to pursue groundbreaking research.

To help UTSA reach these goals, President Eighmy has appointed a Research Excellence Task Force, led by Bernard Arulanandam, interim vice president for Research, Economic Development and Knowledge Enterprise. Arulanandam and his team have already implemented several strategies over the last year to align UTSA’s resources and intellectual talents with NRUF and Carnegie R1 criteria. This initiative establishes a task force to shepherd UTSA through the final miles as it prepares for upcoming review cycles.

To earn NRUF eligibility, UTSA must meet a slate of targets that encompass research expenditures, faculty awards and Ph.D. graduates, among others.

“Having helped lead the NRUF journey during my time at Texas Tech, I can say with certainty that this goal is well within UTSA’s reach,” Eighmy said.

UTSA will aim to meet all NRUF criteria by 2021. Maintaining the numbers for the mandatory two-year evaluation period will result in full eligibility in the year 2023.

For the Carnegie Classification, UTSA has its sights set on the 2021 evaluation cycle. Seven of 10 of UTSA’s peer models of excellence are classified as R1 institutions. UTSA will emulate their successful practices. Increasing UTSA’s Ph.D. student population will be key to success, in addition to continuing an upward trajectory of research expenditures. As with the NRUF efforts, UTSA has already made great progress in areas that advance its Carnegie criteria standings.

“Attaining these milestones amounts to much more than additional feathers in our cap,” said Eighmy. “While they will bring new levels of prestige to UTSA and to San Antonio, they will also serve as endorsements of the education we provide to our students. NRUF and Carnegie R1 underpin our commitment to providing transformational experiences inside and outside of the classroom, engagement opportunities with world-renown scholars, and preparation for careers and meaningful work that tackles our society’s grandest challenges.”

Events

UTSA celebrates Women's History Month

The UTSA Women’s Studies Institute and Women’s Studies Program will feature film screenings, provide lectures and book readings that promote diversity and focus on achieving social justice and women’s empowerment.

35th Annual Juried Student Exhibition

The exhibition is a juried competition featuring recent work by UTSA undergraduate and graduate students. The selected works represent the full range of materials, methods, and techniques, ranging from traditional processes to contemporary digital photography and video.

Town Hall Meeting: School Finance

UTSA and the San Antonio Express-News will jointly host a town hall meeting where panelists will discuss various aspects of the broad topic of school funding in Texas. It's free and open to the public.

Inclusive Excellence small group session - Main Campus

March Into Your Major

March Into Your Major is an event for students who are unsure of their major, have chosen a major but are not sure it’s the right fit for them or students who are confident of their choice of major but are unsure of what careers they can actually pursue with their major.

Celebrating 50 Years: Academy Fellows Speaker Series: Fred Schneider

As part of UTSA's 50th Anniversary celebration, Fred Schneider, computer science professor at Cornell University, will speak on Impediments to Incentivizing Cyber-security Investment." The lecture is free and open to the public.

UTSA's Mission

The University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.

UTSA's Vision

To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.

UTSA's Core Values

We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.